feudal lords
Vassals' ruling superiors
Feudal lords were landholding nobles in the medieval European system of feudalism, holding authority over territories and the peasants who worked them.
They owed military service and loyalty to higher-ranking lords or the king, while receiving the same from vassals beneath them.
The term now applies figuratively to anyone wielding disproportionate local power: Tech companies act as feudal lords over their platforms.
- noblesPrivileged by birth
- nobilityTitled ruling class
- noble bloodAristocratic family descent
- seigneurFeudal landowning noble
- aristocracyRule by hereditary elite
landed gentry · ruling class · suzerainty · liege · fealty · oath of loyalty · primogeniture · divine right · knights · demesne · castle walls · vassal · chivalry · manor · fief · peerage · stewardship · tribute
- medievalknights, castles, cathedral, kings, queens
- Medieval Eraknights, Middle Ages, castles, medieval period, kingdoms
- Middle AgesMiddle Ages, medieval period, castles, knights, Dark Ages
- medieval courtkings, queens, lady, queen, princes
- medieval knightsknight, knights, armor, sword, swords
- nobilityking, queen, prince, princess, duke
feudal lordssubjects
Areas of study
elected representatives · egalitarians · underlings · subordinates · democrats
feudal lordsserfs
Feudal bound laborers
tenant farmers · laborers · landless peasants · agricultural workers · sharecroppers
lord, serfdom, feudal, lordship, feudalism, fiefdom, feudalistic, feudal lord